


a day too late

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, F/M, HaikyuuAngstWeek2020, M/M, Other, minor mentions of suicidal ideation??, no beta we die like men, sorta?, tsukkiyama don't end up together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In which Tsukishima Kei realizes too late just how important Yamaguchi Tadashi is to him.
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi, Yachi Hitoka/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Kudos: 24
Collections: Haikyuu Angst Week 2020





	a day too late

**Author's Note:**

> my submission for HQAngstWeek2020 Day 1: unrequited love
> 
> note: i switch to using koushi instead of just sugawara towards the end bc there's now two sugawara's and i did not want to cause confusion. also kei matures throughout and i feel like he would use first names more the older he gets

“Tsukki!! I have incredible news!” Yamaguchi runs up to the blonde as Tsukishima is packing up his things after class. Yamaguchi’s got one of the biggest smiles Tsukishima’s ever seen on his face, and is practically bouncing up and down.

“Oh yeah?” Tsukishima raises one eyebrow, a bad attempt at feigning ignorance.

“Yeah!” Yamaguchi giggles. Tsukishima feels his heart still. No one makes Yamaguchi giggle but him. “Yachi and I are gonna go get dinner after practice today.”

Tsukishima blinks. “Okay? The three of us have pretty much always done that.” He knows what Yamaguchi’s trying to say. He’s not stupid. He just really,  _ really  _ doesn’t want to hear it.

“Well, yes, that--that’s true.” Yamaguchi has a sheepish smile, and he’s  _ blushing.  _ He’s fucking  _ blushing.  _ “But this--this is different? This is, uh -- a date?” He squeaks out the last word, hands covering his reddening face. 

Tsukishima exhales, letting out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. “Oh. Good for you, I guess.” His chest hurts. It’s hard to breathe. “I’ll just go straight home after practice, then. No need to wait for you.”

Yamaguchi winces.

Tsukishima didn’t mean to let that last sentence out. Too late now, though. It’s just a simple fact, yes, but not to Tsukishima. Not to Yamaguchi. They’ve gone home together after school ever since elementary school. Starting in their second year of middle school, Tsukishima began walking the few blocks past his own house to Yamaguchi’s, just to make sure he got home safe. It’s not like Tsukishima was particularly worried about his friend. Yamaguchi was an athlete after all, he could fight off any attackers about as well as Tsukishima himself could. It just felt right to Tsukishima to walk the smaller boy to his door. He couldn’t really explain why. Even in high school, the pair continued to walk to Yamaguchi’s house every day, and Yamaguchi had never questioned it. They would stop for shitty convenience store ramen twice a week, and get snacks on the other days, but they would  _ always  _ do this together. It’s been a very, very long time since one of them walked home alone. Tsukishima wasn’t sure what he’d do all by himself.

That’s why his phrasing of “no need to wait for you” is so painful, so accusatory. He’s always needed to wait for Yamaguchi. He’s made sure he never got sick so that Yamaguchi wouldn’t have to walk home alone. He’s always been there.

“I-I’m sorry, Tsukki.” The smaller boy looks so guilty. Tsukishima’s chest hurts again. 

“What the hell are you sorry for? Being happy? Being the first of us to get a girlfriend?” Tsukishima attempts to give his friend a soft smile. He prays that the pain doesn’t show on his face. “That’s a dumb reason to be sorry.” He ruffles Yamaguchi’s hair, and grabs his school bag. 

“No, I’m sorry for not including you.” Yamaguchi looks down at his feet.

“Uh, dude, it’s a date. It’d be really weird if you  _ did  _ include me.” Tsukishima turns to leave the classroom, but a hand grabs the back of his jacket.

“Please.” Yamaguchi’s voice is so quiet that Tsukishima almost doesn’t hear him. “Please don’t be mad at me. I don’t like it when you’re mad.”

Tsukishima lets out a ragged breath and replies just as quietly. “I’m not going to be mad at you, Yamaguchi. Seriously.”  _ I never will be.  _ “I’m not going to get in the way of your happiness.” He turns to face the boy behind him. “I promise I’ll be fine by myself. I can go get snacks with Ennoshita or something. It’s okay, I promise.”

He’s not sure where all the words came from. Especially such careful words. It’s not like him.

Yamaguchi blinks. “You’re really sure?”

Tsukishima resists the urge to roll his eyes, and settles for a contorted face instead. “Yeah. When have I ever lied to you? Now hurry up, we’re gonna be late if we don’t get moving.”

“Oh, right.” Yamaguchi grabs his own bag and follows Tsukishima out of the classroom. “Just please promise me you won’t bother Kageyama or Hinata too much while I’m not there.”

“Eww. I have even less intentions of going near the two of them when you’re not there for me to complain to.”

Yamaguchi grins, and Tsukishima knows he’s been forgiven for that accidental comment earlier. “Great! When they fight with each other or with you, it stresses Yachi out so much. I don’t like seeing her stressed.”

Tsukishima’s chest hurts once again. _ Of course this was about Yachi in the end.  _ “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He doesn’t. He perhaps actively goes out of his way to antagonize the other two first-years during practice that day. He feels so stupid and immature.  _ Really, Kei? This is how you decide to handle shit? Being overwhelmingly petty? What are you, a 13-year-old girl? _

But Tsukishima doesn’t know any other way of handling things. He doesn’t know why his chest has been hurting all day, or why he’s in a particularly foul mood, or why it feels extra good today to spike a ball with his full strength. All he knows is: he’s miserable, and it’s Yamaguchi’s fault.

* * *

Yamaguchi and Yachi leave quickly after practice ends, and Tsukishima realizes that he is probably the only one that knows about their date. That makes him feel even worse. There’s no one he can even complain to about it, because he doesn’t know if Yamaguchi wants people to know, and he doesn’t know who, if anyone else, knows about the new couple. 

Tsukishima is tasked with mopping the floor after practice, and he seeks to do this as slowly as possible. He doesn’t want to risk running into the other two on their date on his way home, but he also doesn’t really want to go home. He thinks he’d rather be almost anywhere else, in fact. The idea of Tsukishima being left alone with his own thoughts is not a good one.

The absolute noisiness of Hinata and Kageyama completing their own floor mopping duties hits Tsukishima from across the gym. He stares at the two, who are now racing full speed towards him, and he can feel the scowl on his face deepening. He can’t even bring himself to smirk when Hinata trips over his own feet and somersaults into the wall. Instead, he turns his back to them and half-heartedly scrubs at his corner of the gym. He’s muttering to himself when a hand lands on his forearm.

Tsukishima looks up to see Sugawara’s annoyed face. “Go home. Cleaning half-assed is just as bad as not cleaning at all.”

Tsukishima scoffs. “Yeah, what a horrible thing, to leave one tiny little drop of sweat on the ground.” The sarcasm dripping off of his words is heavy. He knows better than to piss off Sugawara, but he finds himself pressing all of the older boy’s buttons on purpose. “Sorry,  _ mom.  _ Sending me to my room already?”

An incredibly fake smile graces Sugawara’s face, and a quiet gasp falls across the gym. 

“Suga--” Daichi doesn’t have a chance to finish his warning.

“Gee, maybe I am,  _ son.  _ I dare say I know you well enough by now to know when you’re utterly useless to the team.” Sugawara grabs him by the shirt collar. The mop falls from Tsukishima’s hands. Daichi and Tanaka surge forward towards Sugawara, who is still talking, his voice ever so slightly raised.

“You are even more of a shitty person to be around today. I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re not going to take it out on the team. You’re not going to just ignore us when we’re trying to help you improve. If you don’t say anything that isn’t an insult, how the hell are we supposed to do anything to help you?”

Tsukishima grabs the other’s shirt collar right back. He feels two sets of hands tug at the back of his own shirt, trying to pull him and Sugawara apart. “If I needed help with something, I’d ask, don’t you think? Clearly, I don’t need help. There’s nothing wrong. The team being bad isn’t my problem.”

Sugawara glares at him. “Don’t give me that shit. You didn’t say a damn  _ word  _ to Yamaguchi all practice, and you expect me to believe that nothing’s wrong?” The hand on Tsukishima’s collar is released, and Sugawara is pulled backwards, almost toppling the team captain. Tsukishima himself is pulled backwards so hard that he does fall, and hits the back of his head on Kageyama’s knee in the process. There’s a small whine from behind him, Nishinoya probably, but Tsukishima doesn’t care enough to turn around and look. 

“We’re not blind, Tsukishima. Every single one of us can tell that something is wrong with you today,” Sugawara continues. “You either tell us how we can help, or you go home and don’t come back until you figure it out.” 

Tanaka opens his mouth to protest, but Sugawara shakes his head. “You are of no use to us until you can function as normal. You’ve been half-assing everything today. If you half-ass a game even once, Coach is going to bench you for the rest of the season. You are too essential to Karasuno for that to happen.”

Tsukishima glares at Sugawara from his spot on the floor, surrounded by the frozen limbs of his fellow team members. The glare is vicious, and the anger rising from the two boys can be felt in the air. Tsukishima picks himself up, grabs his bag from where he left it by the gym’s entrance, and leaves. He doesn’t say a word to anyone, and no one says anything at all.

Tsukishima doesn’t even bother to change out of his volleyball shoes. He doesn’t give a damn anymore. He doesn’t even care if they get ruined in the walk home; that’s just another excuse to not come back to practice.

The walk home is miserable. It’s hot and muggy outside, the kind where it’s sure that it’ll rain later that night. The cicadas are unreasonably loud, considering it’s not even summer. Somebody’s motorcycle is backfiring a few blocks away, and the  _ putputput _ echoes across the empty streets.

He stops to grab a highly-carbonated drink from a vending machine. He hates carbonated drinks. The one he settles on is lemon-lime flavored; Yamaguchi’s favorite. Tsukishima takes a large swig.  _ Tastes like shit.  _

Once the drink is finished, he tosses it into a restaurant’s dumpster. He wanted it gone as soon as possible.

Tsukishima doesn’t even bother to announce his arrival home. A quick glance while taking off his shoes makes him aware that Akiteru isn’t home, which is a blessing.

Tsukishima is careful not to slam his bedroom door, but god does he want to. He drops his bag immediately in the doorway, kicks off his pants and practice shirt, and then flops face-down on his bed. The pain in his chest has only increased throughout the day, which makes no sense. As far as he knows, there aren’t any heart conditions that run in the Tsukishima family. He probably won’t get around to asking his mom though, because that would lead to way too many questions and doctor’s visits. 

Instead, Tsukishima grabs one of his pillows and pulls it towards him. He snatches off his glasses, and hears them rattle to the floor somewhere. He’ll be mad about that in the morning. With any luck, maybe he won’t wake up in the morning. 

He doesn’t want to see Yamaguchi tomorrow. He can’t wait to see Yamaguchi tomorrow.

Yamaguchi brings chest pains and headaches and disappointment these days. Tsukishima misses the days that Yamaguchi brought laughter and inside jokes and horribly complex secret best-friend handshakes. The two of them haven’t had that for months.

It’s been Yachi this and Yachi that for months. Tsukishima doesn’t dislike her particularly, but he doesn’t exactly like her, either. She’s just...there. Another first year that Yamaguchi befriends, and now apparently dates. Another friend towards leaving Tsukishima behind. That’s how he had known what Yamaguchi was going to say to him earlier this afternoon. He had been expecting it for months. He was honestly more surprised that it took so long for Yamaguchi to actually ask her out; he’d been talking about it since about two weeks after Yachi first showed up to practice.

Tsukishima wonders if he should even call Yamaguchi his best friend any more. They haven’t hung out in ages. Walking home together doesn’t count, because that’s just a habit. There’s actual effort that goes into hanging out together, and apparently neither of them have wanted to expel that effort lately.

Tsukishima’s chest aches harder, and he can feel wetness pricking the corners of his eyes. He closes them, and pretends he can’t feel the tears rolling down his cheeks.

There’s only two more things Tsukishima knows by the time he falls asleep, completely naked, hugging a pillow that’s full of his tears: he has been in love with Yamaguchi Tadashi for years, and that it has taken him far too long to realize this.

* * *

Tsukishima gets better at hiding his emotions throughout the years. By the time he graduates, he is able to hold conversations with Yamaguchi almost like they always could. The two know, though, that it’s not the same.

Yamaguchi probably never did figure out why exactly his best friend started pulling away from him in their first year of high school. He was hurt and confused, but he never had any way of finding out. Tsukishima, to this day, has never told anyone that he still harbors feelings for his definitely-not-interested-in-men ex best friend. 

He ran away when he joined the Sendai Frogs. He knew he was running away. Yamaguchi knew he was running away. He  _ needed  _ to run away, to get some place that Yamaguchi wouldn’t always be. Tsukishima needed some time to himself, to figure his own thoughts out, and to keep himself from ruining things further with Yamaguchi.

He can’t risk it.

It was bad enough to get his heart stomped on in high school. He almost lost Yamaguchi altogether due to Tsukishima’s self-centeredness. It took weeks for Tsukishima to even speak to him again, after Yamaguchi had announced he was dating Yachi. It’s taken years for him to be able to joke around with Yamaguchi again. Tsukishima eventually realized that because he loved Yamaguchi so strongly, he truly just wanted the other boy to be happy. Therefore, he has learned to hold conversations with Yachi, perhaps even consider her a friend. He still has to push the occasional pain in his chest to the back of his mind whenever the three of them hang out, which is usually followed by a pang of guilt.

There’s a part of Tsukishima that desperately wishes for him to confess. That maybe, after all these years, he’s still got a chance. That maybe Yamaguchi’s been experimenting this whole time, or just trying to make Tsukishima jealous.

Tsukishima knows this isn’t true. He knows he’s got rose-tinted glasses. He always has, when it’s come to Yamaguchi. He knows better than to get his hopes up. He feels awful for even thinking these things.

There’s another part of Tsukishima that is full of anger. Anger at Yamaguchi for leaving him, anger at Yachi for taking him away, anger at the team for never even attempting to ask if he was alright. Sugawara tried, but that one interaction had left both Sugawara and Tsukishima salted, and their interactions were brief and professional for the rest of the time until Sugawara graduated. It’s not as if Tsukishima still dislikes the other man, but he has learned that Sugawara can hold grudges for a lifetime.

Therefore, when Tsukishima receives a wedding invitation in the mail from Sugawara, he is honestly shocked that he’s invited at all. 

In perfect calligraphy, the invitation reads:  _ You are cordially invited to a celebration of the lifelong bond between Sugawara Koushi and Sawamura Daichi. _

Tsukishima almost throws it away. He doesn’t give a damn about the wedding of two people he hasn’t seen for about five years. Especially not Sugawara. At the same time though, he realizes that if he was invited, then probably so was the rest of the old team and their friends from other teams. He hasn’t seen the Tokyo gang since high school. He supposes it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he could complain about the sappiness of weddings to Kuroo and Bokuto.

Of course, when he does show up to the wedding, he is immediately annoyed. He appears to be the lone individual that came alone. 

He spots a smaller body hanging off of Kuroo’s, and immediately knows that it’s Kenma. A glint from Kenma’s hand, slung under Kuroo’s and holding onto his forearm, makes Tsukishima do a double take. He realizes that the two have matching golden bands, and that his plan to complain to Kuroo about weddings is now out the window.

In a desperate glance around the room to find Bokuto, or Kageyama, or  _ anyone  _ that Tsukishima wouldn’t hate to talk to, he spots Yamaguchi. With Yachi. 

His breath hitches as he realizes that Yachi has a ring of her own on her left hand. It’s small, with the gem set into the band instead of on top. It suits her perfectly. He doesn’t have to look to know that Yamaguchi’s left hand sports a matching one, without the gem. He looks anyways.

A bubble of discomfort racks Tsukishima’s body, and he can feel a sob somewhere deep in his chest. He turns quickly and leaves the reception hall, almost crashing into someone who looks a whole lot like Akaashi in the process.

Tsukishima walks as fast as he can away from the building, and loses his footing against some loose pebbles in the parking lot. His rear slams into the pavement, and he just sits there for a minute. He feels absolutely nothing. His brain is completely empty. There’s no feeling in his fingers or toes, and he doesn’t even feel the pain he knows has to be shooting up his tailbone right now. The sob finally escapes his lungs, and Tsukishima feels his shoulders collapse in on themselves. 

He knows he needs to get out of the middle of the parking lot. It’s almost dark, there’s a pretty good chance of him getting run over. He’s really not sure if he cares anymore. 

His glasses are fogged up, he knows his face is red from crying, his head hurts, and all he can think about is the slow pain growing in his chest. 

Yamaguchi Tadashi has caused that pain in his chest for almost ten years now. Tsukishima should be able to move the hell on. It shouldn’t still affect him as much as it does. 

But he can’t. 

He’s been in love with Yamaguchi for ten years. He’s honestly not sure he remembers life before Yamaguchi consumed his every thought. He doesn’t know how to live without loving Yamaguchi Tadashi.

He’s sure going to have to figure it out now.

But not right now. Right now, he just ran out on a wedding. The wedding of the only person in high school who cared enough to worry about him. Sugawara didn’t push him away, he tried to push him into recognizing his own feelings. It clearly didn’t work, but Tsukishima can’t ignore the fact that Sugawara  _ tried.  _ In high school, Tsukishima hadn’t had the emotional intelligence to tell Sugawara what he needed, or that he was hurting, or that he was thankful to the older male for caring as much as he did.

Tsukishima picks himself up off the pavement. He goes to his own car, grabs some extra fast-food napkins from his center console, and takes several deep breaths. He reminds himself that he’s doing this for Sugawara. Thoughts of anything else can wait until after the wedding is over. He owes the man that much.

* * *

The ceremony was gorgeous. Koushi looked stunning in a suit, and especially stunning in one that had a match, which his new husband was wearing. Daichi had been very badly hiding his tears the entire ceremony, and was a blubbering mess by the time he actually had to say his vows. Tsukishima knew that Hinata, who was sitting towards the front with his own boyfriend, would never let Daichi live that down. 

The wedding reception was surprisingly traditional. Three course meal, giant tiered gross-flavored cake, stupid mini Koushi and Daichi for the topper. Tsukishima ended up seated at a table with Tanaka, Kiyoko, Ennoshita, and a few of Koushi’s fellow teachers. He was eternally grateful that Koushi didn’t attempt to place him at a table with Yamaguchi. 

Tsukishima’s enjoyment of his entree (some meat dish with a French name that he didn’t even want to try to pronounce) was interrupted by an announcement: “Please welcome your grooms, Sugawara Koushi and Sugawara Daichi!” Thunderous applause rang out, and Tsukishima found himself smiling softly at the couple’s horrendous attempt at a first dance. 

Daichi never could dance. It didn’t come particularly naturally to Koushi, but with practice, he wasn’t too bad. However, when paired with a dance partner that can’t dance for anything, they end up both looking terrible. It lifted Tsukishima’s heart a little bit, though.

It isn’t until the wedding is ending that Tsukishima finally gets a chance to talk to Koushi, who approaches him first.

“Kei! I’m so glad you made it!” Koushi’s giant grin is the first thing Tsukishima notices when he turns around. He reluctantly accepts a hug from the older man. Tsukishima isn’t much of a hugger, even less so with someone he’s not exactly on perfect terms with.

“Of course.” Tsukishima says quietly. “Wouldn’t miss that atrocity of a first dance for anything.”

Koushi feigns offense, and lightly smacks Tsukishima’s arm. “At least you know I had fun.”

“Yeah.” Tsukishima makes eye contact with the smaller man, something that immediately makes him uncomfortable. He makes a mental note to never do that again. “Uh, actually, I have something to tell you.”

Koushi raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

Tsukishima takes a deep breath. “Yeah. Thank you. For back then. Back in high school.”

Koushi blinks. Blinks again. And then finally breaks into an even bigger grin than he had the first time. “You’re welcome! It took you this long to realize it?”

Tsukishima’s known for a long time. A soft smile graces his face, something he realizes has been happening a lot lately. “Sort of. That night, I realized how I...felt. It took me until today to figure out why you were so adamant about that fight though. So. Yeah. Thank you for that.”

Koushi smiles knowingly, and places a hand on Tsukishima’s shoulder. “Of course. You wouldn’t have been calling me ‘mom’ without a reason. Sorry I was a little rough about it, though.”

The taller man shakes his head. “Don’t be. It’s what I needed. I just didn’t know that at the time.”

Tsukishima feels like a weight the size of Japan has been lifted from his chest by the time he leaves.

* * *

Tsukishima arrives back at his apartment at about 3am. He’s utterly exhausted; he hasn’t spoken to that many people in one day in years. 

The stars above his apartment building are especially bright tonight. At a different time, he would have compared his personal shining star to them, and come to the conclusion that Yamaguchi was still brighter.

The thought of Yamaguchi being his personal star doesn’t hurt anymore.

His phone ringing startles Tsukishima, and he almost drops it into the parking lot in the process of digging it out of his pocket.  _ Speak of the devil. _

“What’s up?” The familiarity in the greeting flows off his tongue with an easiness he hasn’t felt in years.

“Oh, uh, just wanted to tell you something.” Yamaguchi is  _ incredibly  _ nervous. Tsukishima can practically hear the phone rattling in his friend’s hand. “Um, because you probably saw at the wedding today.”

“Okay…” Tsukishima has one hand in his jacket pocket. The weather’s just cold enough to need one, and Tsukishima silently thanks the Sugawaras for choosing the perfect day in October for a wedding.

“Uh. YachiandIareengaged.” Yamaguchi practically screams the sentence.

Tsukishima smirks. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

He hears Yamaguchi take a deep breath on the other end of the line. “We--Yachi and I--we’re engaged.”

There’s no jabbing pain in his chest. No uncomfortable heat rising to Tsukishima’s face. Nothing but a feeling of relief. “Yeah, I figured. I’m happy for you guys.” He means it.

There’s total silence on Yamaguchi’s side. Then, a loud rustle. Yachi’s voice greets him next. “Hey, Kei. Sorry about that. Dashi was so nervous that he uh...yeah. I’m sure you know.”

Tsukishima does know. Yamaguchi has always been horrible when it came to serious matters, and would get himself so anxious and tense that once the matter passed, his muscles would give out and he’d have to sit or lie down for a few hours. He hums in agreement, realizing that Yachi can’t see him nod. 

“Uh, yeah, anyways. He actually had a question for you. Well, two.”

Tsukishima feels his eyebrow jump. He’s still staring at the stars above him. “Oh yeah?”

“One, he wants you to keep our engagement a secret. Just for now. You’re uh, you’re the first person we told.”

Tsukishima doesn’t think it’s a good time to tell Yachi that he’s pretty sure everyone in attendance of the Sugawara wedding is aware by now. It’s up to the couple to decide when to formally tell others; Tsukishima’s not a big enough asshole to deny them that. “Of course. Your secret’s safe with me.” He forces himself not to snort at calling the various obvious engagement a ‘secret.’

“Okay awesome! Seriously, thank you.” Yachi breathes a sigh of relief. “Next, Dashi wants to know if you’ll be the best man.”

Tsukishima’s heart skips a beat. He realizes how fucking  _ glad  _ he is to have a friend in Yamaguchi Tadashi. No normal person would still talk to Tsukishima after the way he’s treated Yamaguchi, let alone invite him to be the best man. He’ll have to apologize to Yamaguchi for the rest of their lives for the way he pushed Yamaguchi away for so long. 

“I’d love to.” His voice is so soft he’s not even sure if he spoke at first. 

“Thank god. You’re awesome, Kei. Thank you so freaking much.” Yachi sounds exhausted somehow, and Tsukishima realizes that he’s been pushing her away just as much as he pushed Yamaguchi away. They’re  _ friends,  _ for god’s sake. She’s been equally worried about Tsukishima’s potential anger, because he’s taken it out on her just as he has on Yamaguchi.

“Hey, Yach?” Tsukishima’s been using the nickname for a while, but it no longer holds the malice he used to say it with. “I’m so sorry for being a dick to you for so many years. You’re really awesome. I’m really glad that it’s you who gets to marry Tadashi.”

Yachi inhales sharply on the other end. “Oh. Thank you. I’m glad it’s me too. I’m glad you’re okay now.”

Tsukishima grins against his phone. “You have no idea how happy  _ I  _ am about being okay. It’s been a long time coming.”

“Yeah, it has.”

After hanging up, Tsukishima spends a few final moments staring up at the stars.

There’s billions of stars in the universe. There’s more than one that shines at a time. He knows that he’ll be able to find one that shines for him again.

Whether that’s a few months, a few years, or even a decade from now, Tsukishima’s starting to believe that there’s another shining star out there that’ll rise with him.

He just has to keep his hopes up.

**Author's Note:**

> this wasn't supposed to have a happy ending but i couldn't bring myself to leave kei upset jgrhgjskbj
> 
> also i purposely made kei an idiot in the first part! he wasn't supposed to be good at feelings, hence why he immediately turned to anger and hate and just bad things. yeah. i did this in like 6 hours so if kei's maturation seems kinda rushed It Was. 
> 
> ANYWAYS pls let me know how u felt,,,it fuels me. u can do so here in the comments (plz;__;) or on twitter at [@kenmatime](https://twitter.com/kenmatime) and feel free to follow me if u want <3


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